USA Freediving Contact: John Hullverson President, USA Freediving [email protected] 415-203-5191 www.usafreediving.com June 4, 2018 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CLAIRE PARIS BREAKS USA NATIONAL FREEDIVING RECORD FOR DYNAMIC APNEA--184 METERS Miami, Florida. Claire Paris, of Miami Florida, broke the USA Women’s National Freediving Record in the discipline of Dynamic Apnea (DYN) on Sunday, June 3, 2018, swimming a distance of 184 meters/603 feet underwater in a 50-meter pool on a single breath of air. Paris’ record dive occurred on the final day of the South Florida Apnea Challenge freediving competition held annually in Miami, and took 3 minutes and 9 seconds to complete. Her record surpasses the previous USA record of 179 meters set September 24, 2016 by fellow USA athlete Meghan Gilmore at the AIDA Team World Championships in Kalamata, Greece. In the competition freediving discipline of Dynamic Apnea (DYN), as recognized by Association Internationale pour le Développement de l'Apnée (AIDA), the sport’s international governing body, an athlete takes a single breath on the surface and then swims for distance underwater, usually with the use of a monofin. This is Paris’ second USA national record. She has also held the USA national record in the pool discipline of Dynamic No Fins (DNF), in which an athlete swims underwater for distance in a pool on a single breath of air without the aid of a fin or fins. Paris set that record of 128 meters/420 feet at the South California Apnea Challenge freediving competition held in Los Angeles in 2015. “I am extremely grateful to have achieved another national record for the USA. This is proof that everything is possible with faith, persistence, and passion. I absolutely love the feeling of gliding peacefully underwater. I want to thank my coach Antonio “El Apneista” Del Duca and my husband Ricardo Paris for the long hours training with me. I couldn’t have done this without their encouragement and the support of my children and friends who all share my love of the aquatic life and of our oceans. They made this meaningful endeavor possible.” Paris, who is Professor of Ocean Sciences at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences of the University of Miami is also a very skilled deep ocean freediver, having achieved depths of 70 meters/ 230 feet in competition and in her training. “I’ve been challenging myself in pool dynamic performances to better prepare for the ocean, and I look forward to turning my attention back to depth diving and carrying out scientific freediving research for the Paris lab at University of Miami.” “Claire is one of the most determined athletes you can imagine. She has dedicated her life to the ocean as a scientist and she is simply at home in the water, whether she’s working or training, she loves it and it shows” said John Hullverson, President of USA Freediving. “Claire’s record comes just a few weeks after fellow USA athlete Shell Eisenberg set a new national record in the depth discipline of Constant Weight at 85 meters. The women of the USA are super-strong right now and they’re only getting better!” Freediving runs in the Paris family as Claire’s husband Ricardo Paris is also a competitive freediver as well as an instructor. “I am so impressed by Claire and by what she does everyday to excel as both an ocean scientist and as a freediver. She is driven by a deep passion for the ocean, and I am just fortunate to be by her side while she pursues her goals” said Ricardo Paris. *** USA Freediving is a nonprofit association founded on the democratic representation of freediving within the United States and internationally. Founded in 2003, USA Freediving is the national governing body dedicated to furthering the development of the sport and recreation of freediving in the United States and abroad. For more information about USA Freediving, Team USA, and membership please visit www.usafreediving.com. The Association Internationale pour le Développement de l'Apnée (AIDA) (English: International Association for Development of Apnea), is the international sanctioning body for freediving, individual and team competition, and freediving world record attempts. For more information about AIDA please visit http://www.aidainternational.org. Claire Paris performing her record setting dive Sunday, June 3, 2018 photo: Brock Burggrabe -END- .